Charlie Sheen’s life and career are the subject of a two-part Netflix documentary, aka Charlie Sheen, that lays out a series of revelations about the actor’s childhood, substance use, sexual history and health struggles. The film, released Sept. 10, and a memoir published a day earlier, include first-person accounts and interviews with family and friends that chronicle decades of highs and crises.
The documentary features interviews with Sheen and several figures from his life, including ex-wife Denise Richards and actors Sean Penn, Chris Tucker and Jon Cryer. In it, Sheen speaks candidly about episodes that previously surfaced in tabloid coverage as well as new disclosures about his personal life and recovery.
Among the most striking accounts, Sheen says he once sat in the captain’s chair and briefly piloted a passenger jet while drunk during his 1995 honeymoon, a moment he tied to feelings of being "untouchable." He recounts an 18-hour nosebleed he attributed to heavy cocaine use while filming, and describes an incident during the 1998 movie Free Money when he said he inserted an ice cube rectally to stay awake between takes after co-workers complained he was falling asleep on set.
Sheen also revisits earlier stages of his life. He recalls growing up for a time in a household where his parents practiced nudism and tells the story of losing his virginity as a teenager to a Las Vegas escort he identified by name. He further discloses that he has had sexual experiences with men, a detail he said he discussed publicly for the first time in both the film and his memoir, calling the revelation "liberating."
The documentary addresses Sheen’s 2015 HIV diagnosis, describing the anxiety he experienced while awaiting test results and the subsequent period in which he says he informed sexual partners of his status. Sheen tells the film he has insisted that no one contracted the virus from him, saying, "Nobody got this from me. Period. The end. Full stop." He also says he was extorted by people who threatened to publicize his diagnosis for large sums of money.
Several accounts in the film describe efforts by people in Sheen’s orbit to limit the harms of his substance use. A former dealer, identified in the documentary as Marco, says he was asked by Sheen’s drug counselor to dilute or reduce the potency of the crack cocaine he supplied; Marco says he complied gradually over roughly 18 months in hopes of helping Sheen cut back. The film recounts a 1990 intervention organized by family and friends that included a call from Clint Eastwood, who urged Sheen to get help. Sheen says the intervention led him to enter rehab at that time.
Despite multiple treatment attempts, the documentary includes anecdotes showing the persistence of Sheen’s struggles. He describes leaving a treatment facility to judge a Hawaiian Tropic contest with Nicolas Cage, but returning to the facility before a nurse’s deadline after agreeing to a wager. In the film and memoir, Sheen says he ultimately stopped drinking and using drugs in 2017 and has been single and celibate since that time.
Friends and collaborators appear throughout the film to provide perspective. Denise Richards is shown urging Sheen to be tested for HIV amid symptoms including headaches, chills and sweats. Actors who have worked with him offer context about his professional and personal behavior, and the documentary interweaves archive footage with contemporary interviews.
The new disclosures follow years of highly publicized incidents that affected Sheen’s career, including his widely reported departure from the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. The documentary situates the personal revelations within a broader timeline of Sheen’s acting work, family dynamics and repeated efforts to confront addiction.
Netflix and representatives associated with the project have presented the film as Sheen’s own account of his life, giving him space to narrate events and to address long-standing public curiosity about episodes that once dominated tabloid headlines. Reviewers and viewers have noted the film’s mixture of candid confession and theatrical storytelling, as well as its role in bringing previously private matters into public view.
The documentary and memoir together add to a body of public records—including interviews, court filings and earlier media coverage—that document Sheen’s decades in the spotlight. In the film, Sheen frames many of the revelations as part of a reckoning with his past, and he emphasizes his efforts at sobriety and management of his health in recent years.
Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment. The documentary and memoir provide a detailed, first-person account of episodes that shaped Sheen’s career and personal life and that will likely renew public discussion about addiction, privacy and accountability in celebrity culture.